| how do many animals live | in social groups that have behaviours that are adapted to group living |
| name some behaviours that are adapted to group living | social hierarchy
cooperative hunting
social defence |
| what is a social hierarchy | a rank order within a group of animals consisting of a dominant and subordinate members |
| in a social hierarchy what do dominant individuals carry out | ritualistic (threat) displays |
| in a social hierarchy what do subordinate animals carry out | appeasement behaviour to reduce conflict |
| what do social hierarchies increase the changes of | the dominant animals favourable genes being passed onto the offspring |
| what do animals form in social hierarchies | alliances to increase their social status within the group |
| how may cooperative hunting benefit animals in a social hierarchy | they may gain more food than foraging alone
less energy is used per individual
it enables larger prey to be caught and increases the chance of success |
| what do social defence strategies increases the chances of | survival as some individuals can watch for predators while others can forage for food |
| what do groups do when under attack | they adopt specialised formations when under attack protecting their young |
| what is an altruistic behaviour | one that harms the donor individual but benefits the recipient |
| what is reciprocal altruism | altruism where the roles of the donor and recipient later reverse |
| where does reciprocal altruism often occur | in social animals |
| where is altruistic behaviour common | between a donor and recipient if they are related (kin) |
| what is kin selection | the evolutionary strategy that favours the reproductive success of an organisms relatives, even at a cost to the organisms own survival and reproduction |
| how does the donor benefit in kin selection | in terms of the increased chances of survival of shared genes in the recipients offspring or future offspring |
| what is the of the society of social insects | only some individuals (queens and drones) contribute reproductively |
| give examples of social insects | bees
wasps
ants
termites |
| what are most members of the colony of social insects | sterile workers who cooperate with close relatives to raise relatives |
| what are examples of workers roles in social insect societies | defending he hive
collecting pollen
carrying out waggle dances to show direction of food |
| why do sterile workers raise relatives in social insect colonies | to increase survival of shared genes |
| why do primates have a long period of parental care | to allow learning of complex social behaviour |
| what is the purpose of complex social behaviours in primates | they support the social hierarchy which reduces conflict through ritualistic display and appeasement behaviour |
| give examples of complex social behaviours | grooming
facial expression
body posture
sexual presentation |
| why are alliances formed between individuals | to increase social status within the group |
